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                                        <h2>Prototype of ACE called ACE Test Assembly- <span class="date">Feb 1947 </span></h2>
                                        <p>ACE was a huge project and needed a single nation effort. Unfortunately NPL alone wasn't capable of completing this project. It didn't have necessary manpower and hardware. The authorities did see ACE as deserving the highest priority among the larger projects in Mathematics Division and hence an agreement was reached with the <strong>Post Office Research Lab</strong>, Dollis Hill that they would undertake the development work these required. Dollis Hill offered to give it high priority, and they put <strong>Coombes</strong> and <strong>Chandler</strong> (formerly of the Bletchley Park Colossus team) onto this project.</p>
                                        <p>At the same time <strong>Jim Wilkinson</strong>,  joined the project in NPL on 1<sup>st</sup> May 1946 followed by <strong>Mike Woodger</strong> on 20<sup>th</sup> May. However NPL couldn't get much help from the Post Office. On 22<sup>nd</sup> October Darwin reported to the Executive Committee that assistance from the Post Office was not as great as expected.</p>
                                        <p>Because of lack of hardware effort at NPL and no prospect of related work elsewhere a proposal was presented to build a prototype first by <strong>Harry D Huskey's</strong> (had worked on ENIAC)  group  who joined NPL on 4<sup>th</sup> Jan 1947. The project was described by Turing and Wilkinson on 19<sup>th</sup> Feb 1947. It was approved and work started on a much simpler ACE that came to be called the <strong>ACE Test Assembly</strong>. </p>
                                        <p> The objective of this prototype was to build a computer that could successfully demonstrate the feasibility of Turing's grand project. On 18<sup>th</sup> March 1947, <strong>Dr H A Thomas</strong> of Radio Division was put in charge of getting a prototype ACE made in NPL' s workshops. Shortly afterwards the Post Office Contract was cancelled.</p>
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                      References.
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                            <li>[1] David M Yates, <strong>Turing's Legacy</strong>, published by Science Museum London</li>
                            <li>[2] The modern history of computing - <a target="_new" href = "http://www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/archives/spr2004/entries/computing-history/#ACE">http://www.seop.leeds.ac.uk/archives/spr2004/entries/computing-history</a></li>
                            <li>[3] The Early British Computers by Simon H. Lavington - <a target="_new" href = "http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/EarlyBritish.html">http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/EarlyBritish.html</a></li>
                    
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